Herbs & Closet Turn Overs

I am presently on spring break. Yes, it's that rare thing that we teachers somewhat live for this time of year. Be jealous of me only if you would be willing to grade papers from 6-10pm virtually every evening of the school term cycle.

In any case, owing to travels and other "must do's" of the time away from school, today was the first day (and likely the only day) that I was allowed to "sleep in". I lollygagged about in my pj's until the ripe old hour of 10 a.m. It was wonderful. Then I decided I must get something worthwhile accomplished, so I decided to change over my closet from winter to spring.  This is the annual sorting, pulling out, and packing away of clothes that I won't bother to look at again until the weather chills down round about next October. It always makes me feel good to do it. I pack the sweaters away with their cedar blocks, and change out my winter jammies for my spring/summer ones etc.

 As many of you know, I've lost a good deal of weight in the last year and a half so each seasonal turnover lately has involved pitching clothes that are too big or baggy and stating to myself, "Life is too short to wear baggy or ill-fitting clothes." and then off those go to the Thrift Store.  That makes me feel pretty great too! So today, I did a good deal of that.

Then it was off to run a few errands and we wound up at the plant market buying the herbs for the upcoming summer. I love planting them, even if I rarely cook with them. Ed does such amazing things with a little basil, sage, and thyme! So I help him grow those... and he cooks us things... it's a good deal all around. All in all, a wonderful day of moving from winter to spring!

"Can You Come Out and Play?"

Here we are by the famous "Phil the Gorilla" Statue.. a St. Louis Zoo photo landmark!

The motto of our own St. Louis Zoo is "Can You Come Out and Play?" and believe me, EVERY kid in St. Louis was taking that to heart today! We had a classic St. Louis area spring day today. Sunny, light breeze, 74 degrees... PERFECTION! So off we headed for the zoo. It was a veritable stroller convention, but everyone was so mellow and just loving being outside that it was the MOST fun! Everyone was grinning, making sure all the "little people" in the crowd could see, taking turns, it looked like a toddler manners workshop or something along those lines. Loads of grammies and papas were strolling about with tots in tow. Syd LOVED it.

Once inside, we got her the obligatory Zoo Safari hat and off we went! She watched people as much as she watched animals. We saw: seals, prairie dogs, monkeys, giraffes, camels, gazelles, and all the birds we could find (since her daddy doesn't enjoy birds... we saved the bigger slow moving critters for when she takes HIM to the zoo next time!). She saw a peacock spread his tail, saw ducks and pelicans swim, and a giant hornbill hop! She got very good at watching for movement, and after that, anything that moved had her undivided attention. So in answer to the zoo's question, "Can you come out and play?" - our answer is a resounding, "YES!"

Sydney is totally "in the moment" on a snack break! Watching people and seal lions at the
same time as having a good animal cracker! YUM!

We are looking at Toucans, the "Fruit Loops" birds! Syd got SO excited by their bright colorful bills.

Papa can always be counted on to give you a boost to see better.

Yeah, I know she's showing way too much cookie in this shot,

but she was having such a great time that I had to share it!
Oh, and yes- she left her safari hat on the whole time!

Spring Break Top Ten

There a many things to love about being a teacher. Spring Break is one of them. It comes at a time when you really NEED it and can also fully appreciate it as well. Here are my top 10 reasons to love Spring Break:

1. Sleeping in is totally the best thing... even if you don't do it every day.
2. You can find time to do things that "normal" people do, like bake a batch of cookies.
3. It is totally okay to wear jeans every day except Easter Sunday.
4. You can catch up on long overdue items of "personal importance" - like doing your taxes!
5. It is okay to stay up late reading a book or knitting or whatever your heart desires because you can always sleep in the next morning (see #1)
6. The dog gets to go for more walks than he normally does.
7. You can take an afternoon to just hang out with someone you love - no schedules, no deadlines... nice!
8. The weather, although sporadic, is generally nice enough to convince you that winter is nearly over.
9. You can catch up on your correspondence... both snail mail and email.
10. Sleeping in.... did I mention sleeping in????

We hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break... wherever and however you managed to fit one in!